Four times this year, students have been arrested at a school in Upper Allen Township on charges they assaulted teachers.

In two instances, the teachers suffered a head injury. In another case, a teacher who was struck sustained “significant injury,” police said. In another event, the teacher was struck in the face multiple times. Each time, students ages 12 to 14, were arrested, according to police.

There were two additional incidents where students were charged after providing “obscene material to minors” and one incident where a student possessed THC-laced candy.

But where did these crimes occur? Upper Allen Township police won’t say.

In fact, Upper Allen police won’t tell the public the location of most crimes that involve a business, school or college, said Police Chief James Adams. He said his longstanding policy is consistent to protect victims. And he considers the schools and businesses to be “victims” of crimes that occur on-premises.

Mechanicsburg School District is in Upper Allen, so some may assume that crimes reported at an “Upper Allen school” occurred in a district school. But the township also is home to the Hill Top Academy, with about 120 students who attend the school because they are troubled or traumatized, have special needs and aren’t safe in a typical public school environment.

A spokeswoman with the Capital Area Intermediate Unit, which runs the school, said it supports Upper Allen police.

“It is the decision of local law enforcement agencies to determine the information in which they choose to release through their public incident reports,” said Amy Beaver.

The Hill Top Academy alternative school opened in Upper Allen Township in 2008.

“I’m a Juvenile Probation Officer and I 100% agree with confidentiality,” one woman wrote, “but I think the not listing the school is over the top. I agree, it’s probably Hilltop but not 100% sure.”

Mechanicsburg School officials denied after a June assault that it occurred at one of their schools, but on Friday refused to confirm whether any of the assaults occurred at the district’s schools. Instead, district officials issued a statement saying they support the police department’s stance of not identifying a school after a student is arrested.

The confusion among the public is unnecessary, said Melissa Melewsky, an attorney with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

Taxpayers and parents of children who attend Upper Allen schools would want to know when serious crimes are reported inside school buildings, she said.

“That’s a significant public safety issue and one that demands transparency,” she said.

When asked why domestic violence arrests at private residences were treated differently than businesses, schools and public parks, Adams said there is not “a bright line rule."

“There are many variables including but not limited to: whether or not there is an arrest made, type of event being posted, etc.,” he said.

The Upper Allen Police Department is among the more transparent police agencies in the Commonwealth by having an active Facebook page listing all arrests and crashes, with photos and basic details. The chief also is accessible for questions from the media, which isn’t the case for some municipalities.

But when a crime occurs at a business or school, the news release will simply refer to the location as a “local hotel” or “local business.” In one incident, the department would not reveal the address or name of a local park where two young men had been arrested for marijuana possession.

Adams said the news releases at times will contain a business name or address if police need help from the public to identify a suspect. But barring that scenario, or some other explicit need by police, a location will not be provided, he said.

In two instances, the department identified by name the apartment complex where a car was stolen and where an armed robbery occurred, even though it didn’t provide the street address or block.

Adams said some entities might be reluctant to report crimes if they thought their business name and address would appear in a news release or news story. He said he wasn’t protecting them from bad publicity, but he couldn’t think of any other reason to explain why he withholds that information.

Swatara Township Police Chief Darrell Reider, president of the Dauphin County Police Chiefs Association, said most agencies provide block locations for crimes, not specific addresses. He said his agency would identify and provide the location of a business or school where a crime occurred.

In Harrisburg, police provide a searchable map with all reported crimes and their locations available to the public.

Carlisle Police Chief Taro Landis said his agency typically provides general addresses for crimes and that his agency likely would report an attack against a teacher and identify the school, but he noted that schools sometimes ask them not to put out a news release to avoid bad publicity.

A check of other local police agencies revealed departments that provided news releases, provided the locations of crimes, regardless of whether it was a private residence, public school or publicly-accessible business, except in cases of sexual assault.

Adams was not swayed by what other agencies do.

“I don’t see a burning need for us to change our position," he said. "I don’t see the public benefit of identifying every victim and specific location.”

Under Pennsylvania law, police agencies don’t have to provide news releases or police incident reports to the public. The Commonwealth is “one of the worst states in the country for access to law enforcement records,” Melewsky said.

“Each individual police department has significant discretion to release or not release information… This is an area of law that cries out for amendment for transparency,” she said.

Locations of crimes can be found in criminal complaints filed with the courts, if an adult is charged. But that usually requires a trip to the courthouse and would not cover situations where no one was arrested or where juveniles are the suspects, as juvenile court records are not publicly available.

Locations of crimes also can be obtained by filing a request under the state’s Right-to-Know-Law for “time response logs,” but that can take up to 35 days to get the records. PennLive filed a request for time response logs in Cumberland County last Monday but has not yet received a response.

“It doesn’t make any sense to take the position, ‘I’m not going to give you this in a press release, but you can get it from a time response log,’” Melewsky said. “He’s just delaying access. It’s an unnecessary and inappropriate barrier to access. The public has a right to know where police are responding in a community and where crimes are happening in a community.”